Records of 7 police divisions and 48 treatment facilities were examined in a 6 mo. follow-up study of 522 men, all first admissions to 3 detoxication centers in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario [Canada]. Almost half (47%) of the men were arrested at least once, over half (52%) had at least 1 readmission to a detoxication center, over a third (37%) were admitted to 1 or more residential treatment programs and almost a quarter (23%) were admitted to 1 or more outpatient programs during the 6 mo. period. Of 158 men referred to a residential program, only 103 actually paticipated, and of the 21 referred to outpatient treatment, only 12 participated. The mean length of stay in a residential program was 2.8 wk, and the mean number of visits to each outpatient facility was 2.9. Of men receiving no treatment, 44% were readmitted to a detoxication center compared with 66% of men treated in inpatient or outpatient facilities; treated and untreated men were equally likely to be arrested by the police. Despite the province''s adoption of a social-welfare approach to public drunkenness, the criminal justice system played a major role in the handling of the men studied.